Quilt for Baby

I’m sharing my latest achievement—a quilt for the new baby which is coming in two weeks (EEK!), so I finished just in time. I started this quilt back in February on the day that I first felt him or her kick (we have not found out the gender), so it’s taken most of this pregnancy to complete it.

This was my very first quilt. Ever. And, it may just be my last! At least for a long time. Wow, was it ever a learning experience. The pattern is called “Broken Dishes” by Molly from Purl Soho and is a simple design featuring blocks of four triangles; 100 blocks in all. I used a variety of linen fabrics, some leftover from previous projects, some purchased from Purl Soho, and one of the fabrics is from an old pair of men’s J.Crew linen pants that I cut up. I tried to use colors that were gender neutral and though it has many flaws, I am extremely proud of it!
I knitted Jack’s blanket when I was pregnant with him (this is the pattern I used for that project). You can sort of see it in the above picture. It’s gray with white stripes and made with wool that my sister got for me on a trip to Iceland and it turned out to be much bigger than the pattern’s dimensions which is great because I could see Jack bringing this blanket to college with him—even I like to curl up in it. I am much more comfortable knitting, but didn’t feel like knitting this summer and wanted to try something new. Here I am, putting the final touches on this labor of love. (I wonder how many minutes it will take until the baby spits up all over it!)
If you are an experienced quilter, or even a beginner, this pattern is great. A simple sewing machine will do just fine which I had, but I do recommend that you have other basic quilting tools, like a good rotary cutter and a self-healing mat for cutting the fabric (I just used a pair of scissors!) and a quilting ruler. Also, make sure your fabric will perform well…I unfortunately used a few European linens with a low thread count, and many of the seams have not held up well so I’ve had to try to repair them from the right-side of the fabric which was definitely a challenge.

And if you are not a quilter, I have found some great quilts that you can buy online. Here’s my round-up of the cutest quilts you can buy right now on the internet.
1. Pattern Casual Baby Quilt – Pink ($90)  | 2. Hand Block Print Cotton Quilt ($30)  | 3. Pondicherry ($100)  | 4.  Modern Quilt – Orange, Yellow, Pink ($85)  |  5. Pennywood ($89)  |6. Pineapple ($88)  | 7. Kantha Baby ($60)  | 8. Freehand ($89)  | 9. Cross Quilt – Black ($85)  | 10. Striped Cotton – Navy ($50)  | 11. Masala Baby – Coral ($60)  | 12. Elephant Tej Quilt ($95)

1. Chevron/Geometric – Navy/Yellow ($120)  | 2. Nurseryworks Menagerie Crib Quilt ($145)  | 3. Zebra Quilted Play Blanket ($149)  | 4. Agatha Unisex Patchwork Quilt ($120)  |  5. Maze Quilt ($200)  | 6. Handmade Kantha Quilt ($125)  | 7. Stella Blue Unisex Patchwork Quilt ($130)  |  8. Sydney Quilted Reversible Play Blanket ($149)  | 9. Multicolor Hexagons Crib Quilt ($110)

But for those of you who do like to quilt, check out these great patterns!

Have a great weekend everyone! xo Tamara